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My Hometown Was a Lake
The Ethical Will of of Donald Armstrong, Part 9
For an explanation of what an ‘Ethical Will’ is, please see my previous post, ‘I Leave to You … Whatever Wisdom I May Have Gained.’
The mighty Mississippi, the third longest river in North America, begins as nothing more than a trickle of water, escaping from Lake Itasca in north-central Minnesota. From there, this small stream begins its epic journey to the Gulf of Mexico, spanning 2,340 miles and serving as a border for no less than ten states. As it goes, it gains speed, depth and width. It provides a home for millions of bass, carp, catfish, sturgeon — and even the occasional shark, casually traveling upriver. (Although normally at home in warmer, coastal waters, bull sharks can function and live for a time in freshwater — and they have been seen as far north as Alton, Illinois, some 700 miles from the Gulf.)
Numerous small river towns line the banks of the Mississippi, along with a few notable cities, such as Minneapolis, Saint Louis and New Orleans. Roughly 600 miles southeast of Lake Itasca, along the stretch where the river divides Iowa from Illinois, you will find my hometown: Keithsburg. Once the administrative center of Mercer County, Keithsburg boasted a population of about 1,000 when I was a child. More than fifty years later, the town claims little more than…
